Outer Banks Surf Update – 9.15.11

Posted on September 15, 2011

The fall has arrived. Well, if we want to be precise, fall doesn’t officially start until September 23. But I’m not looking for precision here, I’m going with look and feel.

The kids are back at school, the days are warm while the nights are cool, the beaches are empty, but the water is warm, the fish are biting, and the surf is up! There’s a change in the air – OBX fall is here…and it’s a great thing!

The 2011 Outer Banks fall season is already living up to all of the hype that us locals give it. (Mother Nature’s way of repaying us for that nasty Irene that wreaked so much havoc?) The weather has been more than we could hope for – sunny, 80′s during the day, 70′s at night, light winds, water in the upper 70′s. The fishing has been great; a plentiful bounty all around – offshore, near shore, piers, bridges, surf, & Sound. And the surf has been bumping.

Hurricane Katia stayed out to sea and sent some gnarly overhead barrels (here’s a great photo gallery from ESPN), and the swell has stuck with us ever since. We’ve been enjoying waist to chest, clean sets all week – did I mention it’s sunny, 80, and the water is as warm as the air?!…oh yeah, and plenty of space to find a wave all yourself! Classic OBX waves. Below is a quick video I shot on Wednesday morning before my sunrise surf session.

Tropical Storm Maria is currently rolling through the Atlantic and starting to send swell towards the OBX. The swell will jump to overhead through the weekend, but we’ll have a strong northeast wind blowing, so not much opportunity for surf. Hopefully we’ll continue our great streak of surf with some fun leftovers early next week. Finger crossed.

Outer Banks Surf Forecast - 9.15.11

In addition to all of this fun for us novice surfers, the fall is bringing in some awesome surf contests.

ESA Finals: Transworld Surf is reporting that the ESA (Eastern Surf Association) finals are on for the Outer Banks. The ESA finals have been held in Hatteras for 30 + years. Awesome, right? Well, Hurricane Irene through a wrench in the planning for this year’s competition. With Hatteras inaccessible due to road damage, the call has been made to move the contest 50 miles north to Nags Head. Starting on September 18, one of the best (and longest running) surf contests on the East Coast will kick of at Jennette’s Pier. Awesome location, and with the potential for some great leftovers from Tropical Storm Maria, this could be a banging contest. I’ll get us some footage next week…you’re on the edge of your seat, I know.

ESA Finals on at Jennette's Pier in Nags Head

Volcom Cooterfish: Once again, Volcom is bringing their totally curstacious grom fest to the OBX, and it’s kicking of this Saturday. Based on the swell forecast, it could be a doozy. Definitely worth checking out. Free lunch, a bunch of prizes, custom trophies, cash prizes for competitors and plenty of divisions to choose from. Top 3 finishers will qualify for the 2012 VQS World Champs. Kicking off at 7 AM 9/17 at the 5th St. beach access…just behind the KMart.

2011 Volcom Cooterfish

Outer Banks Pro: Last, but certainly not least, The Outer Banks Pro is kicking off at Jennette’s Pier from September 23 – 25. Always an awesome surfing display with pros from up and down the East coast. This year the Outer Banks Pro has a prize purse of $30,000, and it’s a trial for the Battle of the Banks (stay tune for more info on this totally rad show!). If you’re from VB or OB not only can you win your portion of the purse but if you’re one of the top finishers from your town you go on to the opening round of the Battle!!

2011 Outer Banks Pro

PS – Here’s a quick video of some highlights from last year’s Battle of the Banks…coming soon to an OBX near you:

OBX Pic O’ the Day: Hello Fall…Nice to See You.

Posted on September 12, 2011

Outer Banks: 9.12.11 - OBX Fall at Avalon Pier

OBX fall is here. 80 degrees, empty beach, fun surf, & fish are biting.

Fall on the Outer Banks is about as good as it gets. And we are just getting started.

A little overcast to start today, but the sun should make an appearance soon, and the week looks great with temps hovering around 80, water temps at 75 degrees.

Looks like we’ll be able to enjoy some clean, chest high OBX fall surf over the next few days. Some fun waves out there this morning, and it should get better as the tide fades towards the afternoon. The swell is going to jump to overhead by the end of the week as Tropical Storm Maria rolls through the Atlantic sending some big waves our way.

Fall fishing is in full swing as well – speckled trout, flounder, blue fish, pompano, Spanish mackerel, black drum.

Hope to see you soon. Have fun!

Here’s the Outer Banks surf forecast from Swellinfo.com:

Outer Banks Surf Forecast - 9.12.11

Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report – 8.5.11 – Great Beach Weekend. Surf on Sunday?!

Posted on August 5, 2011

Outer Banks: 8.5.11 - Great Beach Weekend

Good morning. Here’s the Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report for Friday, August 5, 2011.

This video was shot at the Kitty Hawk Pier at 9:00 AM.

Before I dive into the report, I’d like to say a quick Happy Anniversary to my Grandparents who are celebrating their 67 wedding anniversary today. Considering that they are in their 90′s and don’t know how to use the internet, it’s a safe bet they won’t see this video, but I’m sending out my love and good vibes none-the-less. Thanks for being great role models!

Back to the beach! It’s a start to the weekend with great beach conditions. It’s been in the 90′s all week, but the temps have cooled to the mid 80′s today, and will stay there through the weekend. The sun is out, the sky is blue, and there’s strong wind blowing off the ocean out of the east, northeast.

The winds are chopping up the water pretty good for today and tomorrow, but the winds will switch offshore out of the southwest by Sunday…just in time for some surf!….hopefully.

There has been some excitement this week about the potential for surf from Tropical Storm Emily, but that storm dissipated over the Caribbean yesterday. Now that it has broken apart a bit, the surf doesn’t look quite as promising, but we could still have a great day of surf on Sunday and Monday.

The forecasts have dropped the swell from shoulder to waist +, but with a great offshore wind, sun, air and water temps in the 80′s, waist + surf could be all we need for some prime OBX summer surf conditions. Keep your fingers crossed!

As for OBX fishing, tight lines all around. Offshore is catching wahoo, dolphin, big eye and yellow fin tuna, and some bill fish mixed in. The piers, bridges, surf, and Sound are very consistent with a wide variety of fish – speckled trout, spot, croaker, blue fish, Spanish Mackeral, flounder, sea mullet, trigger fish, cobia.

Hope to see you soon. Have fun!

OBX Pic O’ the Day: Great OBX Beach Day & More Surf on the Way?!

Posted on August 4, 2011

Outer Banks: 8.4.11 - Longboard Wave in Kitty Hawk

Another great Outer Banks beach day. Bright sun, blue skies, temps in the 90′s, water temp 75 – 80. And a fun longboard wave with southwest wind keeping the waves clean. Tight lines all around; fish are biting offshore, near shore, piers, bridges, surf, & Sound.

Some more good surf this weekend? The forecast for Tropical Storm Emily keeps it out to sea and moving past the OBX Sunday and Monday with an offshore wind! Great wave conditions. The surf forecast shows swell jumping to chest to shoulder for Sunday and Monday and clean surf. Keep your fingers crossed!

Tropical Storm Emily Forecast - 8.4.11

Outer Banks Surf Forecast - 8.4.11

Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report – 8.3.11 – It’s a hot one…

Posted on August 3, 2011

Outer Banks: 8.3.11 - Hot One at Avalon Pier

Good morning. Here’s the Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report for Wednesday, August 3, 2011.

This video was shot at the Avalon Pier in Kill Devil Hills at 9 AM.

Another great beach day, but it’s a hot one! We have temps hovering around 90 degrees all week, and today could be the hottest day of the week topping out around 95 degrees. Perfect day to be at the beach!

The sun is out, there’s a light offshore wind out of the southwest, and the water temps are at 80 degrees!

The southwest wind is cleaning up the tiny wave that we have. If you find the right spot, there could be a fun longboard wave, but there’s no significant surf. However, the good news is that swell is building over the next few days.

The forecast for Tropical Storm Emily has the storm staying out to sea, but it will swing close enough to the OBX to send some swell our way. Unfortunately, Friday and Saturday will most likely have an east wind knocking the waves down, but Sunday could be great. It looks like the waves could be in the chest high range on Sunday, and there should be a nice offshore breeze out of the southwest keeping the waves clean.

Chest high surf, light offshore breeze, 90 degree temps, and 80 degree water?! Sign me up. Hopefully all of the conditions come together. We’ll keep an eye on it, and let you know.

As for OBX fishing, there are tight lines all around. It is a great time to be fishing on the Outer Banks. Offshore is catching big eye and yellow fin tuna, dolphin, wahoo, and some bill fish mixed in. The piers, bridges, surf, and Sound are all very consistent with a wide variety of fish – spot, blue fish, speckled trout, croaker, flounder, Spanish mackeral, trigger fish, cobia, sea mullet.

Hope to see you soon. Have fun!

Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report – 7.20.11 – Great summer day…

Posted on July 20, 2011

Outer Banks: 7.20.11 - Hot at Avalon Pier

Good morning. Here’s the Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report for Wednesday, July 20, 2011.

This video was shot at the Avalon Pier in Kill Devil Hills at 8:30 AM.

Great summer day, and some great beach weather. The heat has returned. Temps have jumped back to the 90′s and will stay hot through the rest of the week. A gorgeous day today with sun, temps in the low 90′s, and a light offshore wind out of the southwest.

The offshore wind is cleaning up the small swell we have. Some knee high surf coming through. An ok longboard wave, but it’s pretty flat. We’ll continue to have the southwest wind and knee high swell for the rest of the week. Some fun longboarding to be had.

There is a tropical storm roaming in the Atlantic. TS Bret formed off of Florida a few days ago. It shouldn’t be a threat to the OBX. It seems to be moving out to sea, and the surf forecast doesn’t look too promising, but there is still hope that Bret could send some surf our way by the weekend. We’ll see.

Lots of tight lines for OBX fishing. Offshore is catching yellow fin tuna, wahoo, dolphin, and some bill fish mixed in. The piers, bridges, Sound, and surf are very consistent with a wide variety of fish – croaker, spot, sea mullet, speckled trout, Spanish mackerel, trigger fish, flounder, blue fish, and cobia.

Hope to see you soon. Have fun!

Perfect Outer Banks Surf. And More on the Way?

Posted on August 27, 2010

A low pressure system swung in from the north east a day or two ago, and it hung off the coast of the Outer Banks long enough to send some amazing surf. Yesterday was about as good as it gets.

Perfect conditions; water temps in the 70′s, air temps in the upper 80′s, a light off-shore wind, and clean waist to shoulder sets lining up one after another.

This video was shot in about 10-15 mintues, and I lost track of the number of great waves and great rides I saw.

Pretty darn close to perfect OBX surf.

Thanks Mother Nature. Please come again soon.

Now we are setting our sights on the two tropical systems moving through the Atlantic. At this point, both Danielle and Earl seem to be staying out to sea. This could spell a very good scenario for OBX surf.

Then again, it could be a lot of water moving around with no surf. Surf conditions are sensitive to say the least, and right now, the winds don’t seem to be cooperating, but who knows, we could be surprised. Definitely worth keeping an eye on.

At this point, the surf report seems to be saying early Monday is the best bet.